blättern — German conjugation

to leaf through

Frequency#2555Regular

Indicative

Present (Präsens) Regular

Präsens is the default present for facts, habits, and near-future plans. German has no continuous aspect in the same way as English, so a single form often covers both “I work” and “I am working” when you add a time adverb or context.

Ich arbeite heute im Homeoffice.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichblättereI leaf through
dublätterstyou leaf through
er/sie/esblätterthe/she/it leafs through
wirblätternwe leaf through
ihrblättertyou (pl.) leaf through
sie/Sieblätternthey leaf through

Simple past (Präteritum) Regular

Präteritum is a narrative past, common in print and in northern speech, while southern speakers lean on the perfect in conversation. sein and haben keep their Präteritum even when you otherwise avoid the preterite.

Er war müde, aber er hatte keinen Kaffee mehr.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichblätterteI leafed through
dublättertestyou leafed through
er/sie/esblättertehe/she/it leafed through
wirblättertenwe leafed through
ihrblättertetyou (pl.) leafed through
sie/Sieblättertenthey leafed through

Present perfect (Perfekt) Regular

The Perfekt is the everyday past for finished events: auxiliary haben or sein plus participle, with sein for most motion, coming/going, and some change-of-state verbs.

Wir sind rechtzeitig angekommen und haben gefeiert.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhabe geblättertI have leafed through
duhast geblättertyou have leafed through
er/sie/eshat geblätterthe/she/it has leafed through
wirhaben geblättertwe have leafed through
ihrhabt geblättertyou (pl.) have leafed through
sie/Siehaben geblättertthey have leafed through

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) Regular

The Plusquamperfekt is the pluperfect: it marks what had already completed before a later past episode in the same narrative.

Sie war schon gegangen, bevor er ankam.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichhatte geblättertI had leafed through
duhattest geblättertyou had leafed through
er/sie/eshatte geblätterthe/she/it had leafed through
wirhatten geblättertwe had leafed through
ihrhattet geblättertyou (pl.) had leafed through
sie/Siehatten geblättertthey had leafed through

Future I (Futur I) Regular

Futur I is for predictions, firm promises, and also probability about the present in colloquial German. Everyday speech very often uses Präsens plus a time expression instead.

Morgen schneit es, sagt der Wetterbericht.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde blätternI will leaf through
duwirst blätternyou will leaf through
er/sie/eswird blätternhe/she/it will leaf through
wirwerden blätternwe will leaf through
ihrwerdet blätternyou (pl.) will leaf through
sie/Siewerden blätternthey will leaf through

Future II (Futur II) Regular

Futur II (werden + participle + haben/sein) names an action that will be completed before a later time, and can also express a guess that something must already have happened.

Bis Freitag werde ich alles gepackt haben.

PronounGermanEnglish
ichwerde geblättert habenI will have leafed through
duwirst geblättert habenyou will have leafed through
er/sie/eswird geblättert habenhe/she/it will have leafed through
wirwerden geblättert habenwe will have leafed through
ihrwerdet geblättert habenyou (pl.) will have leafed through
sie/Siewerden geblättert habenthey will have leafed through

Subjunctive

Subjunctive II (Konjunktiv II) Regular

Konjunktiv II is the mood for politeness, contrary-to-fact if-clauses, and reported views. In speech, würde + infinitive often stands in for rarer preterit-based forms.

Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen?

PronounGerman
ichblätterte
dublättertest
er/sie/esblätterte
wirblätterten
ihrblättertet
sie/Sieblätterten

Other forms

Imperative (Imperativ) Regular

The imperative uses the du, ihr, and Sie forms of command; the informal du form drops the -st of the present for many strong verbs, and separable-prefix verbs place the prefix at the end.

Mach bitte schnell, der Zug fährt gleich ab.

PronounGerman
dublättere
ihrblättert